Improvement in wick-raisers



W; N. WEEDEN..-

WICK-RAISERS.

No. 193,581. Patented. July 24,1877.

N. FEYERS. PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER, WASNINGTDN, D C,

WILLIAM N. WEEDEN, OF WATERBURY, CONN, ASSIGNOB TO BENEDICT & BURNHAMMANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN WICK-RAISERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 193,58H, dated July 24,1877 application filed June 25, 1877.

To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that 1, WILLIAM N. WEEDEN, of Waterbury, in the county ofNew Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new Improvement inWick-Raisers; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken inconnection with the accompanying drawings and the letters of referencemarked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same,and which said drawings constitute part of this specification, andrepresent, in

Figure 1, perspective view. Figs. 2, 3, and 4 illustrate the process ofmanufacture.

This invention relates to an improvement in the manufacture of thewick-raising device commonly used in kerosene-burners-that is to say, ashaft arranged transversely of the wick-tube, and on which are mountedone or more starshaped wheels, the points of .which engage the wickthrough slots in the wick-tube and abutton on the outer end of theshaft, for conveniently turning the raiser.

In the usual construction the shaft is made fromwire. This must bev ofsufficient size to prevent bending, and very much larger than would benecessary for simply raising the wick, as the resistance offered toraising and lowering the wick is very little; hence a much greateramount of metal is used in the shaft than its legitimate use requires.

The stars are usually attached to the shaft I by making the perforationsthrough the stars slightly smaller than the wire shaft; but, from thefact that the wire will vary in size, it frequently happens that thestars loosen on the shaft, and fail to revolve when the shaft is turned,rendering the burner useless.

An irregular-shaped perforation in the star, or irregular shape of theshaft, to some extent overcomes this difficulty, but adds to the cost.

The object of this invention is to reduce the quantity of metal used inthe raiser, preserve the requisite strength, better secure the stars,and cheapen this important part of the burner. v

The invention consists in a shaft formed into tubular shape from sheetmetal, combined Strips of sheet metal are cut the length of the shaft,and in width corresponding to the circumference 'ofthe shaft to beproduced, one of which is representedljn Fig. 2. This strip is thenplaced in suitable dies, which bend it longitudinally into U shape,transversely, as seen in Fig. 3, then transferred to other dies, thecavity in which is cylindrical. The open side is closed, producing atube, as seen in Fig. 4. At the same time the end a is squared, or madeother than a perfect cylindrical shape, and the shaft is complete.

Preferably, in the final closing, the tube is made slightly tapering;but this is not essential.

The stars b b are perforated in the usual manner, and slightly less indiameter than the diameter of the shaft at the point where they are torest. Then the tubular shaft is forced into the perforation to properlylocate stars. In this operation the scam in the tube will close slightlyas the stars pass onto it, and the elasticity of the metal, tending toexpand the shaft, will hold the stars so firmly that accidentalloosening is impossible.

The button 0 is perforated corresponding to the end a, of the shaft, andforced therein,

or riveted, so as to become practically a part of the shaft. Thistubular form of shaft requires little more than half the weight of metalrequired in the wire shaft, and gives to the shaft a strength greaterthan the same.

diameter of wire.

The cost of shaping the tube is little more than that of preparing thewire hence there .is .a saving of cost nearly corresponding to thesaving in metal. Add to this the elastic or expanding nature of the tubeto hold the stars, a much better wick-raiser is produced than the usualconstruction.

I claim- The herein-described wick-raiser for lampburners, consisting ofthe tubular open raisershaft, combined with the stars 'and button,substantially as described.

WILLIAM N. WEEDEN.

Witnesses A. M. DICKINSON, E. L. BBONSON.

